GSTK-93

I purchased specifically for measuring small stones for jewelry repair/restoration. The optical quality is very good, LED light is bright. I like the focusing adjustment so I can use with or without eyeglasses. The reticle scale is extremely accurate, just be sure it is directly on top of object being measured. I use it both with and without the removable reticle. The large diameter eyepiece is ideal for photographing through with cell phone camera. It is very well constructed and a very good value.

Good quality frame and glass. This makes inspecting coins easier than using a triple loop. This has a much larger field of view. Easy on older eyes!

Good quality. Came with batteries. Everything is working. Thanks

Pros: Nice synthetic leather case. LED's are bright and the optical quality of unit is very good. Reticle is a bit busy but usable. Cons: No instructions are supplied with unit. It arrived with the installed batteries completely dead. It was shipped with switch in the on position. I could not get the focus ring to work straight out of the box. No cap for bottom of magnifier. To avoid the easily correctable issues listed above: 1. A simple instruction sheet would be nice, showing disassembly and adjustments. 2. The manufacturer should let the buyer install the supplied batteries into the unit. 3. Include a cap to help keep bottom reticle clean. Bottom Line: Would I recommend this item - Yes and No. Yes, If you are comfortable with correcting the issues listed on your own. No, If you are looking for the item to work right out of the box. Shout out to Mr. Analog who's Amazon review on this item explained how to correct the focus ring issue.

Almost all hand-held magnifying loupes leave much to be desired, cheap and poor quality go hand in hand. This one is a rare exception, remarkably well made out of what feels like quality components, plus relatively very inexpensive. The LED aspect delivers genuine viewing ability; consider it a necessity with any loupe.

On the plus side, the optical quality of the lens is excellent. But at least on my unit, the light switch didn't always work and sometime the light flicker. In addition, there was oxidation on the battery terminals. I cleaned off the crud but it was still intermittent. I'll be ordering a few more for gifts and I'll report whether they are any better than the one I received. UPDATE..... I now have five of these magnifiers. Of the five, three worked right out of the box. The fourth, described above, is intermittent. The fifth arrived with the light switch in the "on' position, and of course the batteries were dead as a result. Also, on all five units, the focus mechanism didn't work - the top part of the magnifier would just unscrew from the base without focusing. It's easy to fix but not at all obvious how until you know the trick. Unscrew the top part fully. Hold the rotating ring in your left hand. tightly hold the fine threaded part with your right hand, and rotate it counterclockwise. The focus mechanism will unscrew, exposing the focus sleeve. Hold the lens by the focus sleeve and screw it tightly back into the base. Then you should be able to focus using the rotating ring. Second Update.... The manufacturer has been very responsive in resolving the problems I reported, sending me extra batteries and a replacement unit. I have added one star for their help. To get five stars, they would need to fix the quality problems. I will have to rely on reviews from future buyers to monitor the quality. All in all, even taking the chance that you might have to return it, this is a very good product at a reasonable price. I would still buy it.

I like this thing. I use it to look at end grain of wood to identify the tree and it works great. The light helps a lot. I also got a clamp on Amazon that holds this to the camera on my phone so I can record what I see. Works great. Beats using a loupe by far

Update: Sept 2021 Item did not last. I had it in storage, not in use since last year, and just now retrieved it to look at some small insects in my garden. The device crumbled apart with very gentle use, and the lenses fell to the floor. The plastic casing seemed spontaneously disintegrated while in storage. Although it initially worked beautifully, the casing appears to be very fragile plastic that will not last long. I do not recommend this unfortunately. Only used it for about a week last year; put it in storage until now, and it shattered apart spontaneously. Appears to be made from faulty plastic, cheap glue or both. AVOID. ———————————————————— Omg! I bought this this on a whim, then I regretted ordering it, and thought about cancelling. But I thought what the heck, let’s see how it it. So how is it? Amazing. Very high quality. Looks and feels extremely well built. Smooth and precise. I seriously can’t believe it wasn’t $100. Believe it or not, I bought it to find and eradicate mealie bugs on my succulents. (#2020 hobbies) The light really makes it easy to see these almost microscopic creatures. The little mini ruler makes it very fun to see just how small they are. Once I find a bug, I just spritz with a solution of isopropyl alcohol, and voila — no more bugs on my plants. I also think this could be used for a lot of other purposes. I’m going to use it a lot. Very very nice! Highly recommend.